Kelly

Chicago is my kind of town!

We had such a wonderful time in Chicago! Before I share my pictures from the trip I want to give you a little background:

My parents both grew up in Chicago. I was born there. My Dad's side of the family still lives there (grandparents, aunts, cousins, etc.) I grew up going to Chicago every summer. It was back when you could stick your kid on a plane to go see the grandparents and it was no big deal. I would fly up by myself and spend time with my family. It was wonderful...we would go to all the museums, amusement parks, Buckingham Fountain, Ed Debevnicks. I have such awesome memories of those days. I always loved being at my grandparent's apartment. The apartments there are different... they are basically a building with 2 stories, with one apartment on each floor. My Grandparents still live in the same apartment they have since I can remember...and it looks the exact same! I always loved Chicago...it was always the highlight of my summer, and I appreciate it now more than ever. It is full of beautiful architecture, diversity, yummy food, and has the most beautiful lakefront/skyline. I am proud to say I have strong ties to the city and am promising myself to visit the city every year!

Now for the picture PLAY-BY-PLAY! (Click on the picture if you want to view it larger)

We arrived Saturday around 1pm and immediately headed to WHITE CASTLE. This is a tradition in our family. They are the best! YUM! Then we headed to my grandparent's apartment...they did not know I was coming! It was so fun to surprise them. We spent the afternoon visiting and laughing and catching up. It was great! My aunt came over~she's so funny~it was so fun to spend time with her. About 6:30 or so my parents and I decided to head downtown to our hotel to check-in. Our hotel was awesome! It used to be called the Continental Plaza and my mom worked there when she was 20. Guess what... some of the people she worked with still work there now over 30 years later! It was so fun to see my mom talk about all the "old days" with them and hear about all the celebrities they had visit that hotel (Bob Hope for example).

Here is a picture of our hotel, The Westin, in the heart of downtown Chicago

Here is the view when you walk out of the front doors of our hotel My room was perfect!

It was so nice to have it all to myself :)
The view was so pretty! My room overlooked Lakeshore Drive (where Oprah lives!) and Lake Michigan

The view from my room at dusk

The next morning I woke up and opened my drapes to this breathtaking view

It was so beautiful. Seeing the morning sun hit the buildings and the lake was so calming. I can't describe the feeling it gave me seeing the sun come up and knowing what a perfect fall day it was going to be . I could have sat there forever.

This was the view from my bed. It doesn't get much better than that!After breakfast on Sunday we spent the entire day shopping on Michigan Ave. We hit Bloomingdales, Prada, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, H & M, Uggs, Fileen's Basement and many more. It was so fun to walk around downtown on that perfect day! I took lots of snapshots of the city while we shopped. Enjoy!

The Hancock building (directly across from our hotel)

The Chicago River
The new Trump tower that's being built on the river
The WGN building
The Sears Tower
Part of the pretty Chicago Skyline

After a day of shopping on Sunday we headed out to have dinner with my Grandparents, Aunts and Cousins for my Gram's b'day. We had so much fun catching up and laughing! I will post pics from that later~ they are on my dad's camera.

Monday my dad had some work things to attend to so my mom came down to my room and we ordered breakfast from room service and then went and got manicures (My nail polish was called "Lincoln Park After Dark"...fitting because Lincoln Park is an awesome area in downtown Chicago). After, my dad met up with us and we went and had some famous Chicago style pizza for lunch. YUM! Then we headed to the Science & Industry Museum and then back to my Gram's. On the way there we went past both my parent's childhood homes, the church they got married in and I was christened in, the pool my dad was a lifeguard at (for years!) and my mom's high school. It was so neat to imagine their lives there as kiddos. When we got back to my grandparent's we visited with them some more and had Chicago Beef sandwiches for dinner (YUM again!) and said our goodbyes. Tuesday we got up, went to breakfast and then headed back to Dallas.

It was an AMAZING trip. I love that city and appreciate it now more than ever. It was so cool to go back to my Gram's and see everything was exactly the same... it was like getting into a time capsule; completely surreal. I loved seeing where my parents grew up--and loved learning more about them. All I can say to sum it all up is:

♥ CHICAGO ROCKS!! ♥